Why Do Some Christians Fear Yoga?
I really don’t get this freaky deaky fear that some Christians have over yoga. Is it really so horrible to expose yourself to other religious thought?
Or are certain fundamentalist Christian leaders worried that if people got a taste of something else, they might like it better? People doing yoga may not fill their donation box as much…
I also don’t get this nitpicking over the concept of God. Some Christians criticize Hinduism, claiming it’s wrong to suggest that God is “everything” even though whenever I went to Sunday School, they told me that God was “everywhere.” Seems to me it’s the same difference. God is GOD; our descriptions of him/her/it will forever be limited.
Not all Christians react in a fear-based manner. Here is a snippet from a thoughtful commentary from Bishop T.D. Jakes.
However, if I am a Christian, then the fact that I do yoga to enhance my physical condition, or meditate to help me clear my mind, do not change my beliefs in Christianity or remove or weaken my faith. My primary concern only lies with wondering if new Christians are adept at discerning where breathing and meditation end, and a newfound religion begins. Like many things in life, perhaps the answer lies in each individual’s ability to have boundaries that are adjusted to his or her maturity level as a Christian.
That seems reasonable to me.
At any rate, I have been reading a few books on Christian Yoga, and the yoga is generally sound but some of the Christian thought processes are really interesting. I will share some reviews here soon.
For the purpose of clarification–(because I agree with you)
MODERN Christianity believes this: (an extremely dumbed down version for the sake of not wanting to sit here all night typing it out…)
1.There is God.God = ONE TRUE Deity. Only Deity.
2.There is creation (including you and me). = not deity. Purpose=to be saved.
3.There is satan= Not deity. purpose= to keep you from being saved.
So in christianity, there IS only one god, one view and it is dualistic. Everything else that pulls you away from that (ie: exposing yourself to other religions or ideas) is from satan and therefore false.
You can see the problem? You don’t have to agree with their thinking, but at least maybe you can understand that’s the basic premise of MOST of christians out there. It’s why Yoga = bad. It’s not the poses. It’s the history, the philosophy. Like I said, I agree with you. I went to a Christian college. I found it to be soul-crushing. Yoga has opened up my heart to a whole new truth, which, oddly enough, doesn’t negate any of my beliefs in god, but enhances them. But see, a modern christian would call me corrupted….
That’s unfortunately the theology of some Christians, but not all Christians. I grew up Christian and they never pushed this “you must be SAVED / Satan is out to get you” stuff down our throats.
Furthermore, many Christian theologians would probably find some similarities between the Christian God and the Hindu “Brahman.” Depends on the wing of Christianity. Unfortunately, rigid-thinking “holy rollers” have taken over the Christian dialogue recently, it seems.
How do we know that Jesus did not practice yoga and/or meditation ???
i could not agree more with td jakes. I am what most would consider a ‘born again believer’….but i have never considered my yoga practice as a religion….although i respect that some do. to me, yoga is a gift from God- something that i use to enhance my overall health and well being, in a natural and healing way.
Very glad I stumbled across this. Lots of interesting thoughts here:
Agree with Candice to some extent. Approaching yoga with a specifically religious intent is definitely in conflict with Christianity. Well, unless you got the watered-down, barely-able-to-be-called-Christianity that it sounds like Stephanie got growing up. Not trying to offend, but Christianity just is what it is. And exclusivity to Jesus and his asserted divinity is inherent in Christian thought. Anyone not trying to “push” the Jesus as a savior theme, isn’t being intellectually honest about what Christianity is. And the saving part implies that if there’s saving, well, there’s losing. And lost.
You don’t have to like it, accept it, believe it, trust it, anything. But don’t fool yourself that it doesn’t say that, or that these sinister ‘strict’ people are perverting it. They’re probably not.
I love yoga although I’m certainly rather new to it. But it’s not something I use to find religious truth and/or a new value system. I don’t “fear” it, as I guess the post suggests. Full disclosure: I’m as fundamentalist Christian as you can get. Judging from the few comments, I’d probably register as a certifiable freakshow to most of you.
The “rigid-thinking ‘holy roller’” folks in Christianity (I love the pejorative terms, here) would say that melding Christian thought with another religious view (whatever it be), makes the result by definition NOT Christianity.
That whole “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” comment by Jesus makes folks uncomfortable. Those aren’t the words of a benign and a bit clueless yogi Jesus that some imagine.
Enjoyed playing in your sandbox. Thanks for the hospitality.
Peace,
Morgan
I am a very strong Christian & I most certainly don’t think that yoga is bad. I think that there is a difference in being a Christian that meditates with God in mind and a Christian who focuses on worshiping anything other than God Himself. that’s what most religious people and leaders fear the most. it says plain and simple in the bible in the ten commandments that we shouldn’t worship false idols. for some odd reason, people have a common misconception that yoga has to be practiced as a religion. yoga can simply be a way to clear your body and mind and to have “alone” time with God.
as someone who grew up in a mainline denomination, then chose a non-judeo-xtian path, and came to Christ on my own terms (vs. ‘raised in it), the essential difference is the spiritual source of what you’re tapping into. I’ve had bad spiritual experiences when I went off ‘exploring’ and opening up to “whatever” is out there in the spiritual plane (pre-Christ) and it has taken serious time & effort to detach/be removed from those non-God entities.
For christians, sometimes it is the fear of the ‘other’, or mentally it has to have your “brand” stamp on it (fundamentalism) but personally, I know by 30 years experience that there are other spirits out there that are not “of God” and I do my best not to allow those influences in my life. I can’t give you chapter and verse but my ‘center’ is Christ and not -me-, my Spirit is alive and in relation to Christ, and it is a singular relation; to practice something that allows a non-specific openness within is contrary to the relation I have with Christ is not an option, or at least not a safe one, spiritually speaking. It’s not so much ‘fear’ but fidelity to the path to which I’ve been called. `hope that perspective helps a bit on the topic-question.
Hi AC,
Thanks for your comments. You are right in that you can open yourself up to some unsavory characters if you do, for example, new age channeling without fully protecting yourself. However, most traditional yoga practices are not opening anyone up to channeling – and kundalini yoga, which works with the kundalini energy, is inspired by Sikhism, a monotheistic religion, which I believe is about worshiping the same God as the Christian God.
Ultimately, the Hindu “God” is a monotheistic God that is simply represented by different aspects (i.e., the deities). I do not personally get that Ganesha is evil, but instead a metaphor for God energy. In my view, God showed up in various forms around the planet in religions that worked with the cultures of each specific time or place.
This is different from new age practices where sometimes people go off and astral travel without divine protection or channel unknown entities….which you are right, can be quite dangerous.
So from my view, you can absolutely bring Christ into your yoga practice and I believe you can do so with no conflict. If in doubt, you can practice a Christian-based yoga that uses Christian prayers and music.
Christianity:
1. There is one God and he is the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).
2. Our purpose is to have an intimate relationship with God (he is relational, not some far-off being).
3. In order that this be possible (because of the fall of man due to Adam and Eve), God sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to take our place and die for our sins. He became the bridge that makes it possible for us to be in that relationship with God.
There doesn’t look to be anything wrong with doing yoga while being a devout follower of Christ. The issue comes when Yoga becomes an idol, we worship ourselves and we worship the Universe or Energy instead of having an intimate relationship with Christ.